 Poster: A snowHead
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Yesterday we went to snow and rock in bristol to get me some new boots. We looked at the boots and settled on some Atomic Hawx 110's for £299. The bloke in there was really helpful and said they wer the best for that type of foot. He then said they needed to be fitted and made me stand on the machine thingey and proceeded to make some soles.
After about 10 minutes he was still making these soles, and i thought it was strange that we didn't have to pay for them. After about half an hour he had finished them and put them in the boot, and then my i put the boots on, and was asked to walk around in them. I asked the bloke if it was an extra cost and he said yeah and extra £52! I then asked why he hadn't me if i wanted them, and he said that people dont usually ask! I had saved up £300 for boots (which is a lot when your 16!) and that took me ages to save up for, so i didn't want to spend anymore and so i said that i didn't want the heel. He said that they would keep it untill i did want it and i said that i wasn't going to have it, so he said i was not allowed to buy the boots, without the sole. Now i said that i had a £300 limit , he went and spoke to someone and said that i could have them and not the sole, if i promised to come back and buy the sole, but in the end i just left. and think i will stick with my old ones!
Now am i being pickey, or is it always like this?!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have always been asked about the insoles first, so the guy in the shop's at fault. It's actually your consumer rights that he has to inform you and the price of them, so if you really want then you should happily go back (perhaps with a parent, don't take this personally, but it may help) and buy the boots without the insole. However, the custom footbeds are a very good and helpful part of a boot fitting and is worth the extra £52...imo. the's a chap on snowheads "smallzookeeper" that runs a shop in france i think, i'm sure you'll come acress him if you look at most boot related articles, you could ask his advice too, he's very helpful. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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No it shouldn't be like this. They were trying to take you for a ride.
Snow and Rock might not exactly have a reputation for great boot fitting but this goes beyond that. Maybe it was one bad guy or one bad shop or maybe they show this contempt for all their customers, I don't know. Perhaps they just thought they could get one over on you because you're young 
Whatever, full respect to you for making the choice you did and walking out. I would write to their customer service dept at their head office and tell them exactly what you've written here. I'd also make a point of the fact that you wasted a very valuable Saturday afternoon as a result of their incompetance.
Warranty and customer service issues:-
Snow+Rock Customer Service Department
Hours 9.30 - 4.30 Mon-Fri
Tel - 01483 445320.
Email - customer.services@snowandrock.com
Meanwhile take your money to someone who has a strong reputation for fitting ski boots as opposed to just selling ski gear. You'll probably end up with moulded insoles again as they tend to be part of a well fitted boot these days but tell them your budget up front and they'll help find a pair of boots that fit you properly and still leave enough for the footbeds.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Dunny#1, Well done for sticking up for yourself. It really p£$%es me off when adultss treat youngsters in this way. At the very least i would expect a full apology from the company and an offer to supply the inserts for free. After all, they are hardly useable by anybody else, are they.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Good on you.
When I bought my Xwave 9's at S&R at sheffield ski village, they said "they" had a rush on, and I got some kid who measured my foot, asked me what I thought, boxed em up and was out the door! 20 mins in all.
Luckily, I had Equipe 9.1's before, and was used to setting canting etc, so I got em pretty right first time out.
Year later, I thought I'd have some conformable insoles, so went along to S&R,, I got more boot fitting then from the insole guy than the previous kid the year before. Not once though was I asked about the 3d buckle, adjustable cuf,f so, I run the 3d buckle on the top position up now and get a good fit. No heel lift, though the conformables are out in favour of Superfeet greens because I've got a very flat/ fat big toe thanks to my youngest daughter stamping on it twice in a row.. so I needed either the inner stretching. I've had the green's in walking boots and they give heel lift so I fitted em, took em to chill factore and I think they are more comfy.
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Dunny#1, Well done for sticking to your guns - you should do well in life with that sort of attitude. I would have been very annoyed had a shop have a similar trick with me. When my own boots were fitted, we discussed footbeds and they let me try a set of preformed ones just so that I could see the sort of thing they were. I decided - as much for comfort and cost at the time that I would go without them and that was that - end of conversation, no pressure to buy etc. As it turns out after about 10 days of wearing them the new linings have packed down and I understand the purpose of foot beds and now think that I might like to try some. You might be the same, but in your case out of principle I would buy my boots from a different shop, and then in time if you need them I would get the footbeds made there too. If you told folks where in the country you are they may be able to suggest a different shop for you to visit.
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Thanks guys, i was worried it was just me! I will write to there customer service deparment, and thank you for the address. I maybe would have bought some cheaper boots and had the soles fitted to them, but it was the fact that he just didn't tell me! I suppose it was never going to work out, the moment i walked in the shop, i got stopped by a security gaurd who asked how old i was, i said 16 and he said have you got ID, to which i replied no, then he told me i had to leave! I had to go in with a parent, as there had been a youngester walk in with a knife in november, it just wasn't meant to be!
As for the boots, i will have a look around the forum, and thanks for the advice.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Would mum and dad be prepared to take you 80 odd miles to buy them. CEM at Bicester is only about 80 odd miles from Bristol.
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I live 40 odd miles frmo Bristol  I am still deciding what to do.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The Hawks 100 or 90 would have left you the change in your pocket to buy the footbed. Etiquette aside, you shouldn't ski a skiboot without a footbed. We here too, from time to time, forget to inform the customer of the price. Sometimes we are so busy we forget the simple things as we are concentrating on making Footbeds, deforming shells and serving cold beer. All said and done, you have left the store unhappy. IMO the best thjing to do would be to go back to the store, speak to the manager and ask to have the sales person present. This way the store can stem the problem, correct it and keep it in house. The management should appreciate the opportunity to do this and if after you are not satisfied, then you can contact the Head Office.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Dunny#1, lots of great advice above. How experienced a skier are you? Unless you are pretty damn hot, you could get a reasonable boot plus insoles for less than £300, especially if you wait till the end of season sale. You were unlucky; I know that S & R come in for a lot of stick here, but I have always found them helpful and fair (not that I've bought boots from one of their shops, though I did get some at their stall in the Ski Exhibition once. Oz boot fitter who, to my inexperienced eye, seemed to take a lot of time and trouble.
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I was going to say £300 sounds alot. Don't know where you are based. You could also try barry ski lodge (west of cardiff) ask for Zak the manager. Take his advice on whether you need foot beds or not. they tend to be cheaper than S& R. don't know where you live if you are 40 miles from bristol could be completely the wrong direction
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Sun 3-02-08 17:24; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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Dunny#1, whereabouts are you from?
SnR Bristol are awful at boot fitting. They were adamant to my dad that he needed boots that were 1 1/2 sizes too small, week later he couldn't ski two days because of pain and swelling in his feet due to the bad fit.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Dunny#1, Good for you; whether by accident or design you were badly looked after.
Sod 'em .. go to CEM in Bicester or Le Zoo - c/o Le Mairie, Chamonix ( Smallzookeeper)
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have skiied about 17 weeks i suppose, used to go twice or three times a year up untill this year, and now i have to go in half term because of A levels! I had intended to get an insole, but maybe at a later date. I wasn't even really going to get the 110's but the boot fitter said that they were the best boot for my foot shape.
And Spikey, im from about 30 miles south of Bristol, near the Longleat safari park?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Dunny#1, I suspect that what the shop assistant meant when he said that was 'the most expensive boot I can con you into buying'. Sounds like you did well to leave when you did.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Dunny#1, Bicester to see CEM wont be to much of a drag from Longleat way, just over a couple of hours. Give Colin a ring and talk prices first. www.solutions4feet.com
If you need to bribe someone to take you CEM's is about 10 mins from the Designer discount shopping village for a few bargains.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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boredsurfin, Thanks, Yeah ill bribe my mum and tell her she can get some Bargain's lol
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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As if you didn't have enough to think about - one more thing to throw into the mix....if you're 16 (and male) don't you still have one more growth spurt to come yet in the next year or two? Can't quite remember how it works (was a long while ago for me), but do your feet join in with the rest of you, or are they done yet? If the former, then you're not going to get a huge amount of wear out of this pair of boots, so £300 is a lot to blow on them. At 17 weeks experience you should be pretty competent though, so you need a decent pair. Tough call.
The other worry in this story for me is that they did footbeds for you but sounds like they did nothing to fit the shell/liner. Maybe you're just lucky, but is that actually then going to be a good fit without any extra fettling to the shell? Maybe something to do with your age again, but I've never had a pair of boots that hasn't required a couple of hours of bootfitter's hard labour...but then I know I am unlucky.
Both points on which the pros may care to comment.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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To be honest i very much doubt my feet will grow anymore, i'm nearly 17 and they haven't grown in for ages, and i hope i don't grow anymore, im allready over 6ft! Then to fit the footbeds, he just put them in and told me too walk around in them, that was it 
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GrahamN, my boys feet grew until they were 17 or 18.
Dunny#1, 18 year old had size 10 feet at your age, they are now size 11. His didn't grow for ages either so it is not impossible.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Yeah i suppose not, but i could just sell them on ebay if i out grow them 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Dunny#1, This isn't intended to be patronising, but I think its great that you've saved up for your own boots rather than asking mum and dad for them - the satisfaction when you do get a pair and use them should be immense - well done. I had the same sense of satisfaction when I went to the States and paid my own air fare at 18 from money I'd earned plucking turkeys at Christmas - it takes some beating as a feeling believe me.
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barry, Yeah i would go back with a bay, but they would ask me for ID to get in lol! And yeah it annyos me when they think they can treat us how they want.
Megamum, Yeah it was kinda cool walking into the shop knowing that i had earned that money and not asked mum and dad for it! I had to sell a lot of stuff on ebay and clear a lot of tables at work to get that money!
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You know it makes sense.
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barry, Yikes - you're not going to get anyone's 'Customer of the Year Award' Barry, brinkmanship & baseball bats 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Dunny#1, hats off to you for sticking to your guns. The guy probably just made a mistake in not telling you, but you shouldn't pay for it. Good man.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
I went to the States and paid my own air fare at 18
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.......... but you can't get on a bus without stressing about it for a week. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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They're generally very nice at S+R Bristol but IMHO not very good at fitting boots, at least some of them aren't, so I'd put the not mentioning the price for the footbeds thing down to cock up rather than anything else.
However to get a proper boot fitting I think you're safest going to someone like Colin/CEM as suggested above.
The Hawx are great boots by the way 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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There's a semi decent small shop in Cheltenham but it's a fair distance from you. It's where I got mine from and I've never had any problems.
I think you should find a decent fitting boot easily for sub £300.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I bought my first pair of boots from Snow and Rock in Bristol - back in 99 so may well have changed - and they took their time, adjusted the shells a bit as well as the liners. The footbed fitting involved an initial "stand on these" x4 different pairs, followed by the stand on the heated pad thing. All in all it took (IIRC) about an hour and a half. I took the afternoon off work and arrived there at about 2pm and they weren't very busy, which might have made a difference.
My new pair of boots I bought at Twinner (the larger one, at street level) in Les Arcs 2000. Similar amount of time spent, but the great thing was I was able to ski in them and go back for some tweaking. On balance I'd recommend getting boots at the ski resort. The prices weren't dissimilar and the service was fine.
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sounds like the fitter had your best interests at heart, but he should have discussed the cost of the product and explained the advantages to you, i would always suggest that if someone is on a budget that you down spec the boot and go for the footbed or if there is only one boot option then you have the decision to make...spend more to get comfort and performance or do with out and consider it for the future
whilst I quite like the biomechanics of thre Hawx boot it is a pricey option as it is so new, there may be another better or equally as good boot out there for you at a little less money
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Dunny#1, Maybe your experience could be a blessing in disguise - if you get to CEM he might be able to recommend a boot at a lower price - when I bought mine they were £140 for novice boots, but many of the more advanced options were only around the £200 mark - you might be able to find something you like and still have £100 or so to go towards a good second hand pair of skis There are always lots of skis for sale on here I've noticed
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FAQ
